Arisato Chronicles
by Yukai yami
Summary: Minato and Hamuko can't wait to start their stay at Camp Lake Tartarus, but soon they notice strange events happening at night. Could Camp Tartarus be hiding a deep, dark secret? It's up to the Specialized Extracurricular Investigation Squad to find out!
1. Arrival

**Arisato Chronicles: Postcards from the Midnight Hour**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 3 or any other persona-related themes. They are property of ATLUS (entirely, I think…). I also don't own the lyrics for the song used in the beginning, or any other already-owned company, website, household brand, etc. I don't own anything but the plot, really. Even the characters are pre-owned, so please don't sue this poor writer ;A;**

**AN: **Here, Minato and Hamuko, the main characters in Persona 3, are twins, with Minato being a few minutes older. Also, I call blue-haired people indigo's by nature. Sorry if that confuses anybody O_O. Enjoy~.

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><p><em>Hello Mother,<em>

_Hello Father,_

_Here I write from_

_Lake Tartarus!_

_:P XD_

_Hey Mom/ Dad! Big bro Minato and I FINALLY got here to camp! XD Well, we haven't yet :( But by the time you read this letter, I'm sure we'll already be cozy and settled into our cabins. :D Currently, Minato and yours truly are on the 2__nd__ bus towards the Camp. It's full of colorful people! I'm sure Mina-nii and I will make tons of new friends [If he decides to show any emotion NOT related to food and/or sleep :( ] Don't worry! I'll whip him into shape! :D_

…_I'm actually kinda nervous… You know we've never been to a camp like this b4 [I'm sure you don't care if I make spell errors, rite? I mean, I DID spend some months showing you guyz 'leet speak'! X)] All other places have been closer to civilization and you guyz would pick us up AT LEAST on weekends. This time we'll be w/o u for months! :'( I'll write constantly and I'll make sure that Mina-nii writes you guyz, too! Try not to burn down the house while we're gone! XO_

_Luv u lots~_

_Hamuko –heart- _

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><p>"…Aaaand done~!"<p>

The red head pushed 'send' on her laptop and laid back into the bus seat, stretching her arms and legs as far as she could. The indigo-haired boy to her left had a seat of earphones on his head, and didn't show signs of recognition to the girl's statement. He was trying to sleep until he reached his cabin, and was failing miserably. When he finally started nodding off, he felt someone pull him away from his comfort zone by tearing off his headphones. The words from the song he was hearing started pouring out, no longer restricted only to his ears.

"Mina-nii! I said something to you…did you even hear me?" the girl's voice was a mix of both confusion and annoyance.

"No," the boy, Minato, replied, "I didn't hear you, I was trying to sleep." He put emphasis on the word 'trying', but the smaller girl completely ignored it.

"I _said_ that I'm done. I sent momma and poppa our first e-mail letter of the summer." She showed a small hint of pride in her voice. Of what, Minato didn't know nor cared at the moment.

'_If it's 'mail', then wouldn't it be obvious it's a letter, Hamuko?' _Minato kept his thoughts to himself. If he voiced them, then Hamuko _really_ wouldn't let him sleep.

"Besides, we're almost at camp, big bro! It's not even worth falling asleep at this point." A sigh left Hamuko's lips. "I honestly don't understand how you mostly sleep and eat and yet _somehow_ stay thin and athletic. I swear my real twin brother was replaced by a robot…"

The boy just shrugged, placed his headphones in their former place, and listened to soft metal on their way to camp. He rested his head on his left palm and looked out the window; the reason he actually ended up with the window seat on a bus was Hamuko wanting to see the other campers before reaching their stop, otherwise she would've fought him for however long it'd take to have the window seat. After a few moments, he gave up on trying to nod off and settled for watching the forest like scenery they passed by.

The camp he and his sister were currently on their way to was actually quite old. It had been closed for nearly ten years, and its grand re-opening was this week. Apparently, the owners of the camp, named Camp Lake Tartarus, were in some kind of financial trouble and shut the place down to focus on money-making; they didn't have the time to worry over a small kid's camp when they could focus on their other assets. Said company's name was, at present, the Kirijo Company; present, because ten years ago it was still one with the Nanjo group. Today, the Kirijo Corporation was a household name.

If you're wondering why Minato knows so much, his parents made him do research. Yeah, research, for a _camp_. He thanked his lucky stars for Wikipedia.

The twins' parents heard of the re-opening from an old family friend, and were more than willing to send – away, in Minato's opinion— their teens there. When they were younger, the parents told their kids, they had me at Camp Tartarus and had become best of friends, steadily dating until they married seventeen years ago. Now they passed a similar opportunity to Minato and Hamuko.

'_Yippe…'_ the boy thought sarcastically. He wanted to be away from civilization as much as he wanted to go on a hunger-strike: he quite obviously hated the idea. Only after incessant begging from Hamuko day and night did he finally agree to go with her, if only to stop her threats to color his hair green. She'd do it, too. She had painted it 'kiss-me-passion-red' on April Fools a few years ago and he knew she wouldn't mind doing it again.

As Minato's thoughts slowed down, he noticed the bus did as well. By the time it completely halted, his sister was practically bouncing on her seat impatiently. "Really?" he whispered to her. All he received was a glare and a murmur that sounded like '_I swear we're not related'_ or something along those lines.

'_Oh well,'_ he thought, _'At least she calmed down somewhat.'_

The twins stood and picked up their backpacks. Their heavier luggage would be arriving via a second bus later that day. When they stepped off the bus, the view left Hamuko speechless. Minato didn't find it as…impressive… as his little sister did, but he had to agree; it was a sight to behold.

First of all, the camp was _big._ Many cabins occupied the lush green fields, all in similar sizes depending on what their uses would be. Right in the middle of the camp was a grand, clear, pristine lake which reflected the summer sun perfectly, making it look as if the lake was covered in shimmering glitter. Every single faculty or quarters looked brand new. On the opposite side of the lake, towards the horizon, was a large forest which covered the hills. It was obvious the sunset would look just as breathtaking when the sun finally hid behind the hills, and the stars reflecting the lake at night might be the perfect romantic scene. Minato could perfectly imagine younger versions of his parents sitting together on the lake's edge at night, holding hands. It sounded incredibly cheesy, but he knew that's _exactly_ something his parents would do. Or something else that would sound equally fluffy, like his father chasing his mother and vice-versa through the forest, playing hide-and-seek. Usual, movie-like things that would make his sister sigh dreamily while going starry eyed. Honestly, he'd never understand girls and romance.

The tour guide's words brought him out of his thoughts._ 'Well, might as well behave on the first day'_. Minato shut off his music player and lowered his blue earphones so they'd hang around his neck. Contrary to whatever his sister might say, he knew how to be polite, thus knew it would be insulting to pretend to listen to a person while music was blasting away at your ears. Whether it was metal or not pretty much tended to be irrelevant…

The guide began explaining. They would each be divided into different groups and assigned a camp teen supervisor that would be with them in their cabins should they need help with anything and to, well, supervise their actions. They'd also show them around the first day. Including their supervisor, each camper would have five companions in their cabins, forming a full cabin of six people. Surprisingly enough, the cabins were co-ed. The showers and bathroom designed for each one, however, were not. At this, a few guys were obviously saddened while many girls let out sighs of relief.

The teens were asked to stand in rows. Hamuko quickly latched onto Minato's right arm and dragged him one of the front lines. Minato resisted the urge to inform his sister how low the chances of ending in the same cabin were if they stood beside each other, but decided against it. Hamuko wouldn't pay him much heed anyway. Once the guides passed by, the new campers were asked to grab a slip of paper from a bag they had, each slip containing the number of their cabin.

The twins looked at their tiny pieces of paper and their hidden numbers, one with anxiousness and the other with indifference. The indigo's number was four, while the redhead's was nine. At this, Hamuko saddened considerably.

"But! But-but…I wanna be with Mina-nii!" she told him, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. She really looked like she might cry over this. Her brother could instantly tell he was more probable to have a headache by the end of the day, the first day in their long stay, no less.

"There's nothing _I _can do about it. What's done is done; it won't be that bad…" Minato sucked at consoling his sister, but even so, his words fell on deaf ears. Hamuko, for some reason or another, was glancing around nervously. She then focused her gaze on another camper diagonally placed from where the twins were standing. She gave her brother a mischievous, trouble-making wink, god knows why, and left his side to do something that, if he had guess, would cause somebody problems. Minato just shrugged and looked at the tour guide, who seemed to be waiting until everyone's died down. '_Maybe it'd be good to take a nice, peaceful break from Hamu's constant twenty-four-seven energy…'_

…Knowing his luck, that wouldn't happen.

Minato suddenly knew this would be the longest summer of his life.

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><p><strong>AN: Cookie if you can (somehow) guess who Minato's teen-supervisor will be! :D<strong>


	2. Meeting Cabin Four

Arisato Chronicles: Postcards from the Midnight Hour

Chapter Two

**If any character seems OOC, I apologize. This is my kinda first time writing Persona fanfiction. Sorry for the much delayed update.**

**Side note: Um, there **isn't** a typo in the summary; it's supposed to be like that on purpose. Since this is a shadow-less AU, there's no need for there to be an **_**execution**_** squad, but there **_**is**_** a mystery, so they decide to **_**investigate**_**. Hope that cleared any doubts any reader had! ^.^U**

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><p>Granted that Minato didn't get lost on his way to his cabin, he was still quite surprised when he found it nearly empty when he first arrived. He had taken the liberty of looking around for his sister before leaving, even thinking about offering to walk her to her own cabin if it made her happier, but that didn't go as planned. First of all, he couldn't find her anywhere near the rest of the campers and after the guide asked them all to pay attention for some basic rules, he didn't have the chance to keep looking for her. As soon as the basic rules were stated –pretty basic stuff; don't steal from someone, don't run around naked, no pants-ing, no violence, etc. — all campers grabbed their brochures and followed the map to their respective cabins. Minato, unfortunately, had been too busy looking for his twin among the campers to get a brochure in time before the person handing them out left. Instead, he popped in his ear buds once more, followed a random trail, and trusted his instincts wouldn't fail him when he needed them. Surprisingly, he made it to cabin four without getting lost…as far as he knew. He just hoped Hamuko wasn't very upset and that his other cabin mates weren't overly punctual and wouldn't mind if he took longer than normal to show up.<p>

Of course, since there was only one other camper in the cabin with him at the moment, he knew he wouldn't have to worry about _that_ anymore.

"Hey, how's it going?" The other teen left his bags alone by a bed at the end of the cabin and walked up to Minato. He appeared to be the same age, if not a bit taller, with brown eyes. He wore a black tank top which clung tightly due to the heat and a pair of gray, knee-high pants and a dark blue cap. The cap had the camp's logo: a circle divided in four, two diagonally placed quarters being white and the other two being black. "My name's Junpei. What's yours?"

Minato was able to read Junpei's lips clearly and reached out his hand in greeting, not wanting to stop his music player until the current song ended if he could help it. "Minato. Nice to meet you." The teens shook hands, each noticing the other had a strong grip.

Junpei gave a friendly grin. He liked the possibility of having a sports rival at this camp, even if this Minato guy didn't seem like someone who was easily motivated. 'Heck, maybe he'll want to play against me at baseball sometime...'

Minato walked over to the bed closest to the main entrance, dropped his only bag on it, and took a better look around. It didn't seem that other campers had left their belongings inside as they left to explore; there really were no signs that anyone besides the two boys had even reached the cabins.

"Where's everybody?" asked Minato, finally turning off his music player and placing it besides his bag atop the bed.

Junpei shrugged, "Beats me. I've been waiting here for quite a while and so far, you're the first one to get—"

"Wha-? Oh no, you've _got_ to be _kidding_ me!"

Both campers looked to the cabin's doors as soon as the statement reached their ears, just noticing the new teenager that stepped inside. She was slim, wearing a fitting white shirt under a small, pink jacket with a brown miniskirt. Her neck-long brown hair was brushed to her side as she stared holes into Junpei, completely ignoring the other teen in the cabin. She practically stormed over to him and jabbed at his chest with every word that she uttered.

"You. Are. _Not_. In this cabin, right?"

Junpei just smiled, clearly finding the situation humorous for reasons Minato didn't know and was pretty sure he didn't want to know. The older Arisato twin just ignored the bizarre outburst and started taking his belongings out from his bag, trying to remember when the second bus with the rest of his stuff was scheduled to arrive.

"Hey there, Yuka-tan!" If possible, Yukari's glare intensified thanks to the hated nickname Junpei had for her, "Looks like we're roommates! We're gonna hang out like good, ol' pals—"

Yukari interupted Junpei by grumbling loudly as she messed up her hair by running her hands through it in frustration. "Out of all fifty-plus campers I could've had as my cabin mates, I had to get _you_?" She stomped over to the bed farthest from Junpei's, which just happened to be the other bed closest to the door and across from Minato's, to drop a white shoulder bag on it. She grumbled as she sat atop it, legs and arms crossed, "If I see even the _slightest_ hint that you're acting like a creepy old perv, I'm fighting tooth and nail to have you moved to another cabin, preferably in the middle of the forest, you hear me?"

Scratching the back of his head slightly, Junpei gave a sheepish laugh and avoided eye contact with the infuriated female. He mumbled something about 'a bus ride not being enough time to know if someone is a pervert' or along the lines, the forgotten teenager couldn't hear very well.

Minato could only think that Hamuko not ending in the same cabin might've been a blessing in disguise. Already two out of his five roommates were lively enough for him. With Hamuko along, it'd be like adding wood to a flame.

Not a minute later, the cabin's doors opened once again. This time it was a taller teenage girl that walked in. She had a certain air about her, as though she was much older than she looked. Her hair was pulled up into an elegant ponytail and her red eyes, very similar to her hair in color, stood out. Minato was reminded of his younger sibling by those eyes, though Hamuko's looked more childish—and gentler, he added as an afterthought.

Her yellow and orange clothing showed she was part of the camp's staff. All camp staff members wore a yellow undershirt with a matching orange jacket while wearing pants or skirts of similar colors. The camps logo, identical to the one on Junpei's cap, was on her right sleeve for all to see.

"…Hm?" she glanced around the room once more. "It appears that two of our fellow campmates are missing."

"Uhh, y-yeah…" Junpei stuttered out. Not that anyone could blame him; the girl did give off an intimidating aura…

Yukari stood form her bed at the end of the cabin and walked closer to the rest. "Hey, excuse me? Are you our camp supervisor, um…?" she stopped as soon as she realized she didn't know the staff member's name.

"It's Mitsuru," the red-head chuckled lightly as she walked farther in, standing to the side were she could get a clear view of all three campers, "Mitsuru Kirijo. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Wait, wait wait," stepped in Junpei, "Kirijo? As in the _Kirijo Company_, Kirijo?" Mitsuru simply nodded. "But I-I don't get it. I mean, aren't you _loaded_? Why work here?"

It was a bit creepy how quiet the cabin was after Junpei's question. Minato's eyes widened by a tiny fraction and Yukari's mouth opened and closed not unlike a fish's would. Then, with surprising speed, the brunette made her way to Junpei and hit him on his arm. No sooner than Junpei yelped in surprise, Yukari started to scold him.

"Think a little about other's before asking questions like that! Geez, show a little more tact, Stupei!"

"No, it's fine," Mitsuru chuckled once more, "It's a normal question, after all. Let's just say I have a lot of free time," the heiress looked at Yukari this time, "And yes, I'm your teen-supervisor for your cabin for the summer. I hoped that by arriving an adequate number of minutes later than intended, everyone would already be acquainted with each other, but…" she glanced at the door behind her, "…It appears my theory was wrong. Two campers are still unaccounted for."

"Hm." Minato nodded in response. He didn't really mind if he had less campers around that usual. That just meant there would be less people around that could make a ruckus and loud noises at night, right? And Hamuko said he couldn't think of the bright side of things—

"Oh my, I'm so sorry for being late, everyone! Please forgive me!"

Straight from the main entrance burst another teenage girl, though it might've been hard to notice so, since she was bowing and apologizing so fast to really get a good look in edgewise. The only thing that gave her gender away was her soft-tone of voice. She was talking a mile a minute, trying to apologize for being so tardy, as an older-looking boy waltzed in behind her without much of a thought. He walked straight over to the empty bed besides Yukari's and dropped a light blue bag on it. He had short, platinum hair and had a bandage over one of his eyebrows (though there didn't seem to be any injury behind it, mused Minato). His clothes showed he was a staff member just like Mitsuru.

"Hey Mitsuru, this is one of your campers," he pointed to the young girl behind him. Now that she had calmed down somewhat, everyone could see she looked quite young and timid. Her short hair was a shade of light green very similar to the color of her eyes as well as the color of the long-sleeved turtle neck shirt she wore. A long skirt over long socks added perfectly to the whole 'shy-girl-image' she had going on. It was hardly noticeable, but tied around the top of her shirt and around her neck was a ribbon with the trusty camp's insignia. "Some kids were giving her a hard time so she got here later than normal."

"I see…" Mitsuru narrowed her eyes in distaste of trouble occurring so early in the summer's start. "Thank you, Akihiko. What about the troublemakers?"

"Over and done with already," Akihiko gave a dismissive wave of his hand as he walked outside, "Someone else reported them to Ikutsuki-san's office before I found out. If anything, they'll get an earful of puns as a punishment."

Everyone else in the cabin but Mitsuru was lost about what the platinum blonde meant, but they didn't bother with asking for an explanation. Shortly after that, Akihiko left the cabin and the girl that entered with him sat on the bed he had placed her bag on.

"M-my name is Fuuka Yamagishi. I'm very pleased to meet you all."

"Dude," Junpei whispered and elbowed Minato slightly. He was grinning widely once more, "She's so _cute_! Don't cha think?" the indigo-haired boy shrugged, but amused Junpei's statement byt responding with a small smile.

Bright-eyed and energetic, Junpei pointed a thumb at himself when he adressed the cabin's newest member, "The name's Junpei Iori. If anyone gives you any trouble, you can just tell me and I'll take care of it!" Junpei felt even better when Fuuka give a small laugh and nodded at his words.

"Yeah right. What are you gonna do, _bother_ them into submission? Violence _is_ prohibited, you know." Yukari retorted, but soon changed to a kinder tone when she turned to Fuuka. "Oh, I'm Yukari Takeba, by the way. We can't do anything personally to any bullies, but trust me, we'll be more than willing to help you out."

"I'm Mitsuru Kirijo and I'll be your camp supervisor for your stay." The redhead gave a comforting smile which, Minato had to admit, made her look even more elegant (and out of place) than before. "Rest assured that improper behavior won't be tolerated on my watch."

"Sup?" Seeing as he was the only one who had yet to talk, the indigo boy introduced himself once more."I'm Minato Arisato."

"-And _I'm_ Hamuko Arisato!"

Junpei jumped at the loud voice behind him that came from seemingly nowhere. Nobody had even noticed the new addition to the group until she spoke up. True enough, Hamuko stood right there by the open doors, smiling amiably to everyone with her bag grabbed tightly behind her. She gave a quick grin with a thumbs-up to her brother, who just face-palmed and muttered softly to himself.

"Of course she found a way, she always does…"

"Hey everyone! I guess I'm the last camper here, huh? Sorry I'm late, I got lost." The redhead scratched her cheek a tiny bit at that last statement.

"F-For how long?" asked Yukari, bewildered. Sure _she_ had been late, but she had helped all her girlfriends find _their_ cabins first! And Fuuka had been in trouble with some other kids, and Mitsuru _wanted_ to be tardy. Yukari had the sudden feeling of dread that most of her cabin mates weren't the most normal of people…

Little did she know that Minato had been feeling the exact same way for a while now.

Dropping her bearings on the only available bed (between Junpei's and Minato's), she sharply span in half a circle to face most of her companions and bowed. "Like I said, I'm Hamuko Arisato, and Minato-nii here is my twin brother!" Hamuko flashed her bright smile once more. "Nice to meet you all!"

"Oh, is that so?" Thought Mitsuru out loud, genuinely curious, "It's amazing to think that twins would end up in the same cabin. You two must've been incredibly lucky."

"Yeah, that's it…" Minato slipped in a small glare at his twin from behind his bangs. "_Incredible_ luck."

Hamuko ignored her brother's words like it was nothing and replied back to Mitsuru, "Yeah, I know! It's so cool how it all works out like that!" At that, Hamuko leaned closer to her brother and told him softly so the others wouldn't hear, "If you hear from someone named Kenji, who seems to be looking for me because of his room ticket, you have my full permission to ignore him completely."

Sighing deeply and plopping down on his bed, the blue-eyed boy decided to just give up for the day. He was waaaay too tired at the moment…. He wandered off in his mind, thinking about what he'd write his parents later on.

_'Dear mom, dear dad. Hopefully, you two are better of than me at the moment. It's only been half a day here and I'm exhausted. Is there any possible chance, no matter how small, that I can ship Hamuko back with this letter? Better yet, I'll personally deliver it myself and just stay home for the summer. Everybody wins, right? Every second I seem to spend here is…'_

_"…Incredibly unlucky…"_ he muttered out loud and under his breath.

"Well," Fuuka said nervously, "No one can say our cabin doesn't have... unique people in it, huh..?"

"Ugh, don't remind me…" replied Yukari with a scowl.

Hamuko started pulling Minato's sleeve in an attempt to pull him up and on his feet. "Gosh Mina-nii, get up! We need to go out, explore and meet people! You can't stay all summer on your bed!"

Her brother shot her an unamused look. "You think so? Watch me."

"Hehehe, you're really _twins?_" Junpei laughed, grinning at the lazier sibling on top of the bed. "Dude, she acts _nothing_ like you."

"Thank you." Both twins replied him at the same time.

The oldest teen in the room could only glance at the five others with the slightest hint of concern. 'They're _certainly a lively bunch. I know father told me I need to interact with peers my age, but…'_ as red eyes kept a professional look at everything around her, certain thoughts were beginning to cloud with doubts and uncertanties. _'…Am… I ready to handle mingling with such contrasting personalities?'_

Mitsuru sighed as she ran a hand through her hair lightly. All she could do now was hope for the best possible outcome to everybody's summer. As a proud Kirijo, she should be able to do that much.

No worries. She was certain everybody would enjoy their time at Camp tartarus.

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><p><strong>AN: I honestly don't know what update pattern I have for this story, sorry –bows- I'll try not to take as long next time, though.** Also, congrats to MegaTokya for guessing correctly and winning a cyber-cookie :)

Also, I'm not entirely sure **about adding Ken as a character**. I'm honestly better at writing teens and I'm not entirely sure how I would mix him into the story with the huge age gap; then again, it's Ken! He's part of SEES and even Koromaru has a planned appearance. I feel bad leaving him out…** Please tell me your opinion.**

And I know this isn't my best work as far as fanfiction come, but it's hard for me to write about Persona games for some reason… I appreciate any and all criticism or comment made about my writting! It really helps!

Campsona… I don't know who wrote that, but that is pure epicness, right thar!


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